


Insubordination, part III

by Steena



Series: Transgressions verse [5]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Caretaking, Confessions, implied slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25922578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steena/pseuds/Steena
Summary: The aftermath of Nitro's punishment. There's no rest for the ones who don't obey, no unnecessary supplies for those who live and die by a credit number, and no true understanding of consent for those who have no rights, and shouldn't have empathy.
Series: Transgressions verse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630393
Comments: 12
Kudos: 15





	Insubordination, part III

"Sort that out. You're being deployed tomorrow night, that one will be going, and it will be fighting as is." His commander says, pointing to the heap on the ground that is Nitro Zeus.

Ironhide's spark plummets.

_Nitro will fight as always, but it's going to be up to him to keep his brother alive. Nitro has sustained too much damage, his self repair is going to be busy._

"Soldiers: dismissed, if you haven't received orders for clean up." The commander shouts, and everyone turns to leave.

Ironhide crouches next to Nitro, servos hovering above the scorched plating of the Flier's back. Nitro squirms, groaning. They may be built to be insensitive, but the lashings are made in a way to truly hurt even them.

"Where can I touch you?" He asks, wanting to help Nitro up, but not keen on causing more pain in the process.

"I think my left audial is fine." Nitro grunts.

Nitro's back, his aft, and the backs of his thighs are crisscrossed by scorch marks from the whips, and Ironhide can see energon dribbling out through the seams of the Jet's plating, telling him that protoform has been split in several places. Nitro is slowly working his way up to stand on all fours, and Ironhide knows what it feels like to try to get up from the ground after the chains have finally been released. He takes a chance and grabs under Nitro's arms, hoping his sides and chest is less damaged, and then he lifts. 

Nitro grunts and curses, but with the joint effort, Nitro is finally on his pedes again. Hide takes stock of the damage, noticing the marks stretching around Nitro's sides, some of them even reaching his chest-plates.

_Fucking bastards._

"Come on, brother. I'll take a look at your wounds." He murmurs, wanting to help Nitro get back to their barrack, but all too aware of how any effort to support his brother's frame will bring more pain. "You can lean against me if you want." The only support he can offer without making things worse.

Nitro Zeus almost drapes himself over Ironhide's back, leaning heavily on Ironhide, and they start their walk back at creep speed. They walk in silence back to the barracks, and as soon as they reach Nitro's cot, the Flier keels forward, stretching out on his front, a pained grunt leaving his vocalizer.

Ironhide grabs the tiny field repair kit from his subspace, picking out the burn cleanser, patches for the fuel lines, protoform staples, and the tiny jar of nanite gel.

_He'll be all out of repair supplies when he has fixed up Nitro, and it's still weeks until they're allowed to restock again._

He starts with patching the minor fuel lines that have been damaged, then he moves on to clean out the wounds on Nitro's protoform, the Flier flaring his plating to give access, but hissing from the sting, and the pain from his other wounds.

"I need to staple these..." Ironhide says apologetically.

"Do what you have to."

Nitro bites into lumpy, stained mattress, grunting quietly when Ironhide starts to staple the wounds shut. The more Hide looks, the more wounds he finds, and the worse he feels.

"I'm sorry!" He blurts.

"It needs to be done, and you weren't the one holding the whip."

"No, but if I hadn't given the order, you wouldn't have been punished in the first place."

"I wouldn't have been punished, because I'd be offline. If you hadn't given the order, I'd be a heap of scrap on that battlefield, or a pile of parts in the recycle shop. Or in the smelter."

"Yeah, but... I just hate seeing you like this because of me."

"At least I still have my..." Nitro breaks off into a pained hiss when Hide puts another staple around the edges of a wound, "...my pretty face."

Ironhide snorts, but his spark still twinges, because he can't fully appreciate the joke when Nitro is laid out like this, and they're being deployed again tomorrow. He puts the last staples in, forced to tape the last wounds, because he's out of staples, and then he moves on to spread the nanite gel over Nitro's burns, trying to put a thin enough layer on to keep from running out of gel, while not rubbing too much on any burnt surface and make the procedure painful.

"Spread your legs." He says, because he can't really reach the wounds the way Nitro Zeus is positioned.

Nitro spreads his knees, which makes his back arch, and his hips to tilt, then he slides the panel covering his valve open. Ironhide stares stupidly at Nitro's array for long seconds — the stock components, with just a few red bio lights adorning gunmetal colored, smooth valve-lips.

"You didn't need to open up."

"Oh. I thought you wanted... I mean, you are my superior, and... You know, you got into trouble too, I just thought you wanted me to pay my dues."

Ironhide cringes. "No thank you. I'm... I don't want it like that."

Nitro shrugs, which looks strange with the way he's laying down. "Better you than the other commanders."

Ironhide shakes his helm, not that Nitro can see it. "I actually prefer willing mechs." He says, spark spinning, because he isn't certain how the confession will sit with one of his fellow soldiers. "You know, like the bitches who sneak in for the thrill of trying a Warframe? It's more intriguing to see their reactions to pleasure. More fun to make them beg for it instead of begging me to stop."

"I think I get it."


End file.
